Anwar Ibrahim announced that he had to put off a contest in an election – which would have given him a chance to enter Parliament – in order to deal with the sodomy accusation against him.

He was to announce that he was to contest in Bandar Tun Razak where the Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid was to step down to allow Anwar to contest. These plans are now shelved in order to clear his name, he said to the press after he left the Turkish Embassy.

Anwar said he was about to announce plans to contest a by-election for Parliament, but that would have to be put off while he dealt with the police complaint made Saturday by the 23-year-old aide. Anwar has dismissed the allegation as a "complete fabrication."

"I (was) supposed to announce my candidacy in a by-election. Well, I can't announce now," Anwar told reporters. "We have deal with this right now."

Party insiders said once his name cleared and the truth was out on the sodomy issue, Anwar will contest the by-election which they say will be in Bandar Tun Razak. He is expected to win by a large marjin due to the current anti-pathy and anger against the Barisan National, a PKR adviser said to World Futures.

"It is crucial for Anwar to be elected to Parliament and to challenge the BN there. His presence will end all speculations about his capacity to lead the oppostion while it will boost his chances of pulling more BN MP's to join his national coalition," said the party insider.

Bandar Tun Razak is one of the choices that Anwar has to get his re-election to the Malaysian Parliament after a long 10 years absence. His seat in the Parliament became obsolete when he was jailed in 1998 on sodomy and corruption charges.

Before the 2008 elections, the PKR said it had at least 10 party members who would be willing to resign and allow Anwar to contest if they won their seats. 

Hours after the aide filed the complaint, the 60-year-old opposition leader took refuge at the Turkish Embassy, saying he feared for his life. Anwar subsequently moved to the ambassador's residence from where he emerged Monday evening after the government assured him he was not in any personal danger.

Anwar said he had also planned to present four ruling National Front coalition lawmakers on Tuesday who were ready to defect to his party. But that announcement would also be delayed, he said in brief comments made through the open window of his car as he was driven out of the Turkish envoy's residence.

"It is precisely because of this reason that they have created this mess. They will keep me very busy in the next few days on this case," said Anwar, who faced a similar sodomy accusation in 1998 when he was deputy prime minister.

On Monday, Anwar filed a defamation suit in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, seeking unspecified compensation from the aide. Sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by 20 years' imprisonment in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

The political drama that erupted over the weekend has intensified the sense of uncertainty in Malaysia, where the government is still reeling from spectacular gains by Anwar's three-party opposition alliance in the March 8 general elections.

Anwar says he can get dozens of government lawmakers to defect, which would topple Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration, by mid-September. The ruling National Front coalition has a majority of only 30 seats in the 222-member Parliament, the first time in history that it is in such a precarious situation.

Abdullah is facing pressure from party dissidents to step down. His popularity among the general public hit rock bottom after he increased gasoline prices by 41 percent last month.

Anwar says the sodomy scandal is part of a plot to prevent the opposition from gaining ground. He says it was also aimed at stopping him from unveiling new evidence that the national police chief and the attorney general fabricated evidence against him in the 1998 sodomy case.

At the time, Anwar was deputy prime minister and finance minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir fired Anwar from the government when the accusations surfaced that he sodomized his family driver and an aide.

Anwar has insisted the charges were fabricated because he had challenged Mahathir's power.

Still, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sodomy and abusing his authority to cover up the deed. Malaysia's highest court overturned the sodomy conviction and freed him in 2004, after Mahathir had retired. But the abuse of power conviction remained, which resulted in Anwar being banned from holding political office.

The ban expired in April but it meant Anwar could not contest the March general elections. He can re-enter Parliament through a by-election, which would make him eligible to become prime minister, a post he has openly aspired for.

WFOL - AP 

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